Will Matt Rhule's dismissal start fire sale for Panthers?

It makes sense that the team would elect to move on from its current core as they pivot to competing down the road.

The team's star running back, Christian McCaffery, is the most obvious candidate for relocation following Rhule's departure.

The former Stanford running back had his past two seasons cut short due to injuries but has been healthy to begin 2022. While it's unclear what type of return the Panthers could get for an expensive running back with a history of injuries, there are certainly teams who could talk themselves into believing a healthy McCaffery could catapult them into  Super Bowl contention. 

It's not often a running back of McCaffery's caliber becomes available on the open market, and precedent may show that the Panthers could get a decent haul for their star player. Per Sportrac, the last time a former First-Team All-Pro running back was traded was in 2020, when the Arizona Cardinals traded star running back David Johnson and two draft picks to the Houston Texans for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and a draft pick. 

Through five games, McCaffery has 324 rushing yards on 72 carries, an average of 4.5 yards per attempt. He has rushed for two touchdowns and has188 yards and a touchdown receiving. During his previous two full seasons, in 2018 and 2019, McCaffery ran for 2,485 yards on 506 attempts--an average of 4.9 yards per attempt.